


Reflections after loosing the weapon

by elenapadmeamidala



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), YonVers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22600669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenapadmeamidala/pseuds/elenapadmeamidala
Summary: Yon-Rogg is back on Hala and reflects on his failure to keep the most important Kree weapon.
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Yon-Rogg
Comments: 17
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea just popped into my head and I had to get it out there. For now, I'll leave it as a one-shot, but I might expand it into a sequel of "Scouting mission" when I'm done with that fic, but that will still take a few months.

_Tenderly soft fingers ghosted down his cheek rousing Yon-Rogg from his light slumber. He leaned into it relishing in the warm soft touch of her hand. Now her index finger traced his upper lip. He wanted to draw her closer to him. He smiled. Her warm breath came closer and tickled his cheek. No, he couldn’t wait. Yon-Rogg turned towards her trying to catch her sweet soft lips, but she was teasing him, pulling away from him. He reached out to her attempting to pull her closer to him. But …he hit some hard edge that shot pain through his entire body._

He opened his eyes as he woke up to the cruel coldness of his bland room white room. Cursing loudly when he realized that he had hit his hand at the edge of his nightstand. The chronometer showed that he had woken up again at the exact same time as Vers would have come knocking on his door to train. She had turned him from a night owl into an early lark. His heart ached and clenched at the thought of her. His Vers. His fiery weapon. His temptress. And he did have way too much time at his hands now to think about her. Vers apartment had been given to another, according to the AI more worthy, Star Force member and her meagre belongings where stored in his.

When he had arrived in Hala in disgrace, he had firmly believed to be executed for his failures. Which is why he had tried to goat her into killing him. He had wanted to die at her hands instead of the cold torturous tentacles of the Supreme Intelligence. But he had trained her too well, unfortunately. She was able to control her emotions when she wanted to. He should have known that she was able to perform when needed. He had begged her not to send him back to Hala, fully expecting to be tortured and executed. After all, he had failed in everything. Not retrieving the power source, bringing a Terran instead of the wayward scientist. A Terran he had felt compelled to share his blood with. That alone was a sacrilege. Kree never shared blood with anyone but of Kree origin. And even then, it was only done among those promised to each other. Binding himself to her had been a dangerous gamble, because now he wasn’t able to further his standing and technically, he had committed a crime that usually brought either execution or exile.

Not that he would ever be able to gain any standing after his failure. He had become exactly what his father had predicted. A failure. An expected failure. His pink-skinned son who should never have been able to crawl out of the lower levels of Hala, where his father had put him after his birth. But he had turned Vers into a weapon for the Kree. A magnificent weapon that he had lost to the wretched Skrulls. He hated the lot of them for taking her from him. Not because he had lost her unique powers to their worst enemy, but because he felt empty without her. Empty and alone. With her, he had been able to let his guard down occasionally. Her friendship had been genuine. But without her, he was lonely again. He thought about her kind brown eyes, warm cheeky smile, her strange idioms or collocations that didn’t really make much sense in the Kree language, her often rather inappropriate jokes, even for Kree standards. Her “accidental” photon blasts that she had directed at him during training to test out how far she could go. Naturally, he never had been able to stay mad or irritated by her. Her human charm simply was too intoxicating.

On more than one occasion he had just wanted to pull her towards him and kiss her lips lovingly, show everyone that she was his, but the AI had forbidden this. It had been pure torture to be so close to her and not show her what he had truly felt. He had been her Commander after all, and the Supreme Intelligence had ordered him to not sully his Kree heritage further by cavorting with the Terran. It had grated on him that Vers had been seen by the SI and Min-Erva as a lesser being. When he had first laid eyes on her, really laid eyes on her after she had outsmarted him and Min-Erva a couple of times during their chase, Vers had reminded him of the fierce Kree women from ancient tales. Strong, fierce, committed and talented. A force to be reckoned with. Those Kree women that could kill the males with only one Kiss and still be highly desired. And he knew that she hadn’t been unaffected by him during her time at Hala. Her slight blush and body language had told him that much. 

Yon-Rogg sighed staring at his cold white ceiling. The Supreme Intelligence was right after all. He was weak. The AI had been surprisingly merciful to him despite all his failures. They suspended his rank of commander for the time being. Training recruits was the only thing he was allowed to do. Mainly because his recruits performed best. His suspension, unfortunately, meant that he was cut off from any major developments in the war against Xander and most important of all, against the Skrulls. He had wanted to gather a few ships and go after Mar-Vell’s cruiser after hearing that he was just suspended. Ronan, also having been defeated had been tasked to hunt her down alive so, that she could be publicly executed on Hala. His stomach churned. He didn’t want to witness her execution. She was far too valuable for that. He didn’t want to be responsible for her needless death. The AI had insinuated that it expected him to be the one to do the deed. That must have been his punishment. And it would be the worst punishment imaginable. Ronan, however, had taunted him with something even worse. The Accuser had acquired a new obsession after seeing her unleashed power in action.

He sat up in his bed with the wall to his back. Surely there had to be a way to get her back. To make her see reason. It was likely that Vers had only managed to break free because Mar-Vell’s cruiser had been so far away from Kree space and the distance had made it difficult for the Supreme Intelligence to maintain the connection. Adding to that, the blasted Skrull Talos had played on Vers compassion. He had warned her time and time again that it was a weakness, yet his lectures had felt empty as he was guilty of feeling compassion as well. Yet not for the Skrulls! It shouldn’t have been possible after she had seen all those heinous massacres committed by the Skrulls. Had she all forgotten about that? Had the Skrulls perhaps messed with her mind more than she was aware of? Skrulls just wanting a home, far away from the Kree, as they had claimed, was not something that they truly wanted. They reigned horror and destruction upon every world they infiltrated. Now, they would probably use Vers to conquer planets, telling her just enough to make her believe that she was fighting Kree expansion. But the Kree weren’t expanding. They were bringing peace, law and order. Their client species were thriving under Kree law. After all, they were protecting them from all the horror Skrulls, and other monsters would reign down on them. Vers had to be reminded of that. He needed her. He needed her here with him. Here in his quaint apartment where he could hold her close to his heart making her forget the dangerous world outside. His little recruits had correctly identified her as his ‘mate’ years ago. The only person not knowing about it had been her. Yesterday one of his recruits had even told him that she didn’t believe what the populous had been told about Vers’ defection. Another Kree recruit had joined the whispered conversation and claimed that he believed in Vers and that the Skrulls had to have gotten through to her somehow. His heart had warmed at hearing that because those two young recruits were born leaders and if those two still believed in her, perhaps the rest of Hala could also be swayed towards catching and not killing her. Perhaps there was still hope after all.

His communicator chimed and he reluctantly leaned towards it and activated the holo coming face to face with General Lan-Lar. 

“You wanted to speak with me General?” he inquired locking eyes with the hologram which inclined his head.

“I thought you might be interested to know that Ronan is on his way back to Hala.” Yon-Rogg straightened in apprehension. Had the Accuser actually managed to catch her? So soon? That was impossible.

“Thank you, General. Was he successful in his quest?” he asked fighting to keep his face expressionless. He didn’t want to execute her.

“No, Commander. The weapon sent him on a wild goose chase from one inhabited planet to another inhabited planet. Making it appear to have been taken over by Skrulls. The interesting thing, however, was that on each planet one of your former team members was found. Korath, Att-Lass and Bron-Char had ration packs with them. The remaining Kree soldiers who had been trapped on the cruiser had only been left with one water bottle each. Once they had rescued one Kree, the beacon to the other went off. He ended up at the first planet again where they had found our spy Soh-Lar." 

Yon-Rogg took a deep breath. So, that's why the General was calling. To tell him that not only his team members were saved, but also his own son. “Then they have to be briefed immediately. They could give us some idea where she is going next or what the Skrulls are planning.” He mused. “And we have to make sure that their memories haven’t been tampered with. And it might suggest that the Skrulls weren't too far ahead of Ronan.”

“I agree.” The General nodded. “Unfortunately, her trail went cold after that. Korath however has requested a transfer to the Accusers. He wants to serve under Ronan, forfeiting his position in the Star Force. Ronan vouches for him.”

“Att-Lass and Bron-Char?” Yon-Rogg asked clenching his fist. Korath had always admired Ronan and had shared Min-Erva’s irritation towards Vers, but he couldn’t help but feel betrayed. After all, he had handpicked him to serve in his team.

“Att-Lass and Bon-Char want to continue serving in your team. Even after your massive failure.” The general shook his head as if he had a hard time believing this. “If you want to be part of their interrogation, then I suggest you come to headquarters in an hour.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You said that you only wanted to live in peace far away from the Kree.” Carol reminded him, sitting in the little compartment belonging to Soren and Talos after her scouting round. “So, I believe it is the best option that we’ll find a home for you first and then go looking for other Skrulls. It is better to have a base of operations than relying on a Kree Cruiser.”

“If we do that then there might not be any Skrulls left, Carol,” Talos argued impatiently. “And habitable planets usually have life already.”

“And finding us a planet is far too dangerous right now. The best chance we’ve got is collecting Skrulls to our cruiser.” Soren shook her head.

“Well, there surely are enough barren rocks available in the galaxy or the neighbouring galaxies. With the right equipment, you could terraform them and create a base, but the tricky part is building this. I have no idea how to get all the resources for something like that.” Carol yawned.

“Terraforming is far too dangerous at the moment. An inorganic base is the safest home we could find for us. That’s why we need to find other Skrulls. With them, we might be able to acquire the necessary … well, things.” Soren told her slowly brushing over her husband’s head with a finger.

“It’s too dangerous. We had one almost one brush in with Ronan already. If we hadn’t Solar as our Joker, then we might actually have had to face him.

“No, problem with you at the helm.” Talos daughter murmured sleepily from her lap. Carol hugged her. It felt familiar, hugging her, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. She still had only parts of her recovered memory and she still slept badly. Or rather her dreams had worsened. Not, that she knew that it had been Yon-Rogg, she preferred to not sleep at all. It tore her heart out every time her dream came back to her.

“Realistically, it could become a problem,” Carol said with a heavy sigh. “The Kree surely must have some sort of contingency against my power. I mean they had six years to figure something out in case I went supernova. The SI always threatened that what had been given could be taken away. What if that threat wasn’t an empty one? So, until we know for sure that they have nothing to use against me we should avoid run-ins with Kree warships.”

“You are giving them too much credit, Carol,” Talos told her brushing his fingers over Soren’s who smiled at him. Carol felt a bit like intruding on their privacy.

“How did the war between the Kree and the Skrulls start anyway?” Carol asked evading his statement.

“What do you know?” Talos riposted challengingly.

“Nothing.” She told him. “Well, a few things from Kree propaganda, but I do wonder how different the Kree narrative is from the Skrull narrative. All I needed to know that the Skrulls fought against the Kree for thousands of years. But I never heard about the true reason why those two fractions declared war to each other and now I just… well, I just want to know.”

“Fair point.” Talos nodded. “Well, as far as I know, the Skrulls helped the Kree out of their barbaric ways and they thanked us by turning against us. Perhaps, Soren, might know more. After all, she was trained to be a vessel to remember our ancient songs to preserve our history.”

“That’s vague.” Carol murmured fighting against her tiredness. She wasn’t convinced. Was it possible that the Skrull leaders used the same tactic of holding back information for their own people? Basically, mirroring what the Kree were doing? Soren was one of the Skrull bards tasked with remembering their history? That could only mean that she was held in higher esteem than most Skrulls.

“The songs of the Skrulls tell us that approximately ten million years ago, we Skrulls expanded out of our home galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, establishing an intergalactic empire. In the Large Magellanic Cloud, we discovered the Kree homeworld of Hala. At that point in their history, the Kree shared the planet with a plant race, the Cotati and were at the dawn of their culture. We Skrulls decided to see which race was worthy of our aid and to determine which race it was they devised a test. On Terra’s satellite Moon, our ancestors created the Blue Area of the Moon and transported groups of Cotati and Kree there, who were left to accomplish whatever they could. Legend tells us that upon returning the Skrulls judged the works of the Cotati to be superior. Enraged, the Kree launched a vicious attack on the Cotati and Skrull judges, slaughtering them all. The Kree then stole the Skrulls' starship and reverse-engineered their technology.” Soren recited monotonously. It was the best summary she could give she was not allowed to actually sing the ancient stories to a non-Skrull. Not even one who helped them.

Carol frowned. This was completely contrary to what she had learned at Hala but there were a few things that didn’t quite make sense. Not when she considered the Fermi Paradox. Wait. She put her head to the side. That didn’t sound Kree and for some reason, she seemed to be able to recall this information. But that was something she had clearly learned on Earth. Why could she remember that and not her past? 

“That’s terrible. What happened then? So, this is how the war began? Wait, how long did that test last? How advanced where the Kree when your kind found them on Hala? Because if they were so far behind your species, then how were they able to actually able to reverse engineer your technology? Did you teach them anything on our moon that could help them progress? What were the remaining Kree and Cotati doing in the meantime of your experiment? Why was our moon chosen for this experiment and why is there no evidence of our moon having been inhabited? Or is there?” More question rushed into her mind and Soren plugged her lips, clearly thinking about them. It seemed that she had no answers to most of them.

Soren nodded and continued: “Well, I have to research your questions and get back to you. What happened after; however I can tell. Due to the immense distances between the galaxies, it took us Skrulls decades to learn of the Kree's treachery and atrocities. By which time the Kree had established their own interstellar regime, becoming bold enough to attack us in what you call the Andromeda galaxy. In the millennia that followed the Skrulls underwent a transition, becoming a vicious warlike race, one capable of conducting the intergalactic war against the Kree. We had to adapt to our entire class system. Due to the vast distances between the Skrull and Kree galaxies, the aeons old war continued without a permanent conclusion. As we fought each other on a million planets, with never a clear victor or loser, and in the process, both empires got stronger and prospered. The two empires were too evenly matched and therefore were unable to achieve a decisive victory over their hated enemy. But in the last decade, the Kree won by destroying Skrullos and somehow managing to turn planets we’ve been living on into Skrull eating, living planets.”

“It was horrible. You can’t even imagine how terrible it was to see entire colonies of men, women and children being drawn underground, to be slowly eaten and dissolved without being able to help them.” Talos sucked in his breath at the horrible memory. 

“I don’t need to,” Carol told him hoarsely at her memory. “I’ve seen it.” Now both of adult Skrulls gazed at her in surprise.

“And you had no problem with Skrulls being eaten alive back then?” Talos inquired raising voice, but Soren touched his hand shaking her head, calming her husband down.

“I didn’t know what it was or that the Kree had anything to do with this. We even managed to save a Skrull back then.” Carol defended herself. “Ok, saved from one planet-eating monster, to be brought for interrogation on Hala. Not sure if that qualifies as safe. Yon-Rogg had sent Min-Erva and me on a ‘routine reconnaissance mission to this Aphos Prime in order to scout for any Skrull activity. Instead we found Skrulls and were drawn into the planet with them. One of them was dead already when we found him, the second was badly wounded and we weren’t in the best of shape as well. We barely made it out and away from the planet. When we reported back to what had happened, we were told that Yon-Rog had no idea what had happened to the planet.” She scoffed at the memory. “He had told me to consider this a test. At the time I thought it had been a test if Min-erva and I could work together. But what if this was a test, to see if their weapon worked?”

Her voice broke. Had Yon-Rogg known what she and Min-Erva were going into? Had he known that they could have died there? Had he even cared about her or Min-Erva at all? Her heart constricted. Or had it all just been a ploy to keep her loyal to the Kree? Had he known that the Kree had committed genocide by nearly wiping out the Skrulls with a weapon like this? She felt sick. He was a commander, of course, he had to know about that. It seemed that she had never known him at all.

"As a commander, he certainly had knowledge about what was truly going on, Carol." Talos nodded confirming her darkest fears.

“So, the entire narrative of Kree subjugation by the Skrulls for their blood was just propaganda?” Carol whispered processing the information. “The entire Kree society is built up around that narrative. There are murals and statues everywhere telling the narrative of Kree as slaves of the Skrulls, harvested for their blood until they rose up and fought back.”

“Right, their entire blood cult.” Talos sneered dismissively. “They rather let their own warriors die than giving them a blood transfusion if their own stored blood isn’t available.”

Carol froze. “That’s not entirely true. Yon-Rogg shared his blood with me. My blood was exchanged with his.”

Talos reptilian eyebrows shot up and he locked eyes with Soren, who answered it with equal worry in her eyes. To Carol it almost seemed as if they were communicating silently with each other. It made her uneasy. They seemed to know something about the Kree, that they didn’t feel the need to share.

“Well, this is disconcerting on quite a few instances.” She murmured. At Carol’s querying look, she elaborated. “Putting aside the cultural implications of a Kree blood transfusion, a transfusion alone won’t turn your blood to other colours. Terran blood is iron-rich and combined with the oxygen-based respiratory system, the oxidation of iron powers your internal organs. And as you probably had only one blood transfusion, it is possible that you have received some bone marrow transplant, which is likely dependent on some kind of support system to suppress your body rejection of the blue Kree blood, which is copper-rich.”

Carol gulped. If Soren was right, then this could become a severe problem. Her hand ghosted over the place where her implant had been. What if it hadn’t just suppressed her power, but also helped her to suppress a possible bone marrow transplant. Had that been why Yon-Rogg had been that possessive over her? But then, if the Kree were so technologically advanced, did they truly still work with bone marrow transplants? Whatever it was she couldn’t keep down her growing fear. If what Soren suggested was true, then they had experimented on her more than she had known. She was itching to use the Kree data system, that they had shut down in order to find out how much they had truly experimented on her, but that would tell the Kree about their current whereabouts and that was something she simply couldn’t risk. She had to find a different way. And if the theory about a bone marrow was correct, she didn’t have much time for that.

Telos voice brought her out of her reverie “Well, that is one possibility. I guess there is another. We know that you absorbed the core’s power. A normal Terran body wouldn’t have been able to do this. You heard Yon-Rogg. He was surprised about that. Knowing Terran physiology, there is a conformity in physiology there. Offspring between Kree and humans could technically be possible, and we know that there are Kree sleeper cells on your planet. And if there is one thing, we Skrulls know about the Kree, it’s that they relax best by practising procreation. What if you actually have a Kree ancestor, Carol? It could explain your resilience and all the Kree would have needed would have been triggering that part of your DNA, which then would have rewritten the rest of your body’s DNA. You wouldn’t have even needed a bone marrow then. But it would have taken quite some time.”

Carol’s head swam with all the possibilities and it grated on her nerves that she still couldn’t remember much of her past. She should have asked for more information. On the one hand she felt like there was something very important she had forgotten, but on the other hand, she felt a cold dread. She felt lost. And unfortunately, Talos had no idea where the other two ships with Mindfrackers were. Only that he would get in trouble with the Skrull council when they found out that he had lost one when his ship had gone down. Or rather had been brought down by the very person sitting opposite of him.

The recovered memory with that man shouting at her conjured-up tons of negative emotions, but she didn’t know why or why she couldn’t remember more about him. She still had no real knowledge about her birth family. Had they missed her? Had they mourned her? Monica had told her that she hadn’t gotten along with her family, which is why Maria and she had become her real family. But there was something nagging in the back of her mind, that she just quite couldn’t catch.

Now that she thought about it, her “recovery” had been particularly painful and Yon-Rogg had almost stayed at her side for the entire time, keeping her company and “reteaching her” the Kree language and Kree culture, that she “had forgotten”. She had thought that his care for her had genuine. But now she wasn’t so sure about this.

Soren touched her hand softly with a kind smile. “Well, we will find out about it together. Don’t worry. You are not alone in this. And as for your earlier question.” Talos shook his head at her in warning, but Soren ignored him. Carol radiated severe vulnerability right now and she had every right to be but keeping important details of their history just to appease their newfound ally and make the Skrulls appear in a better light might come back to haunt them in the future. She had a good heart and the Skrulls on the cruiser loved her, but other Skrulls might not be that forthcoming with her in the future. It was better to establish a solid base of trust now.

“There might be some truth to the Kree history.” She told her biting her lips, as Talos shoulders slumped in defeat. “Due to the war with the Kree, we split into three groups of Skrulls. The base Skrulls just looked like us, but couldn’t shapeshift like us Deviant Skrulls. So, there are whispers of base Skrulls experimenting on Kree war prisoners to create Skrull-Kree Hybrids. They allegedly were called the Knights of the Infinite but partially wiped out by the Deviant Skrulls when they found out about these experiments. The remaining survivors were wiped from existence from the Kree as those knights supposedly believed that they would rule the Universe once the Skrulls and Kree empires were fallen. The Kree might just have taken parts of that story and embellished it for their purposes.”

Carol nodded and carefully stood up handing her, her sleeping daughter. “Thank you for your honesty. It’s a lot to process.”

* * *

"She didn't react to the cultural implications of her blood transfusion," Soren mentioned as the door closed behind Carol, living the family alone in their compartment.

"It was a lot to process," Talos answered pulling his wife closer. "All things considered, she did take it really well. But it will come to her eventually and then all hell might break loose."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still a very rudimentary chapter. Will probably revised later.

Dusk had fallen over Hala. The night sky was aglow with bright city lights. Now that couldn’t be. She must have been dreaming. Hala’s sky was never aglow with bright city lights. She laid down on her mattress again, but it felt so wrong. Certainly not as comfy as her old mattress in her apartment in Hala. Or even Yon-Rogg’s mattress, which had certainly been from superior quality. Her current one was a large, rectangular pad for supporting her reclining body. There were other mattresses aligned next to each other in the little compartment of this ship waiting to be filled with more Skrull refugees. So, for know, she should relish in the silence. But she couldn’t. Carol exhaled and turned to her left side. Sleep was evading her. Still. Now her mind still reeling from the conversation with her favourite Skrull pair. Hundreds of questions on what exactly the Kree had done to her. How had they changed her physique? Would her health fall apart without the inhibitor? Her hand ghosted over the sore spot where she had ripped it off. And what had that strange, exchanged gaze between Talos and Soren been? Something about “cultural implications of a Kree blood transfusion”. Yes, Kree blood was valuable, but she wracked her mind about anything else but came up empty. Yon-Rogg had always evaded those questions by changing the subject to something quite similar. She definitely had to read up on that. But not right now.

Suddenly her ears perked up. What was that? Was there something moving in the vents? Shuffling? No, slithering? The constant buzz of electricity had shortly paused, but now it had resumed. She strained her tired ears, but it did not repeat. She must have imagined it. Counting sheep wouldn’t help her to fall asleep. A purring flerken might have come handy right now, but alas, she had left Goose in the safe hands of Fury. After all, the ginger fluff adored the one-eyed agent way too much.

Alright, Carol lay back on her back and concentrated on her breathing, casting her mind out to positive memories.

_His mattress was soft and comfy. The fabric only gave way where pressure was applied selectively and adapted precisely to the body contours of her body. Even his linen was soft and cool as she buried herself in them. So comfy, she grunted and heard a small chuckle._

_The mattress dipped gently, and she slowly became aware that she wasn’t quite alone in his bed. But glancing through her eyelashes Vers realised that he kept a respectful distance between them and was stretched out at the very edge of his bed. If he turned backwards, he would tumble out of his own bed._

_“What happened to your couch?” she murmured absent-mindedly realizing that this was the first time that she was snoozing in his bed. Sometimes, on the very rare occasion when it had been far too early for training, he had allowed her to stay and usually let her sleep on his white couch. But now it was nowhere to be seen._

_He sighed tiredly and told her with slight humour in his voice. “It outlived its usefulness.”_

* * *

“Commander!” Att-Lass called out jumping up from his seat when he spotted Yon-Rogg entering the grey interrogation room.

“Is it true? The others from the cruiser, they survived?” he looked haunted. Yon-Rogg nodded with a relieved sigh.

“Yes, they were found on other planets. We need you to tell us exactly what happened from the fight with Vers until you were found.” Yon-Rogg told him earnestly.

Att-Lass nodded hastily and let out a heartfelt sigh. He knew it was off-topic, but his heart told him that the Commander should know. “Vers doesn’t look good.”

“What do you mean?!” Yon-Rogg asked feeling his heart plummet. So, he was right! The Skrulls had done something to her.

Att-Lass sighed again. “I don’t know. I mean she looks really pale,…tired… or exhausted even. As if she hasn’t slept in quite some time. I mean not like fatigued like her restless nights on Hala. But different kind of drained.”

His heart constricted. Vers had already gone through so much. And she had always come straight to him after he had repeatedly urged her to not sit it out alone or running herself ragged to clear her head. Hearing that she was not well worried him. After all, she was in the fangs of the Skrulls now. She had nobody she could confide in. Vers was more than vulnerable right now. He needed to get her back. Back to Hala’s safety. Back to him.

“How the traitor is feeling is none of our concern.” the General’s stern voice came from behind Yon-Rogg, who squared his shoulders in apprehension. Now was not the time to show his weakness. Especially not in front of the General who was certainly here to evaluate his performance. If he wanted to get back into active duty, then he could not disappoint.

“So, as Commander Rogg asked you to do, tell us exactly what happened after the traitor turned on you.”

Att-lass exhaled locking eyes with his trusted Commander: “There isn’t much to tell really. During the main fight, Vers knocked us out. Of course, now, I realize that she had the power and the strange anger to kill us, but she did not. So, deep down the old Vers might still be in there somewhere.”

“That is not relevant for your report.” The general interrupted him raising his voice. “Tell me if you remember the four conversational maxims.”

Att-Lass glared at the general: “How could anybody forget the conversational maxims, Sir? By asking me about them when I try to give a mission report, shows that you yourself might not be adhering to the Maxime of Relevance.” Yon-Rogg’s eyes widened. Att-Lass had never shown any contempt towards his superiors, especially not in that tone, but if he continued like this he could be decommissioned and that would be a terrible loss for Star Force.

“I think we should all calm down. Att-Lass does know the conversational maxims by heart, like every Kree of Star Force.” Yon-Rogg defended him. “Furthermore Att-Lass has an uncanny sharpness of mind, that finds every little detail that could be important for the future. He is able to recognize numerous patterns that other Kree miss. If Att-Lass reports about Vers appearance, then it is of importance, Sir.”

General scoffed mockingly crossing his arms in front of his chest. “You are too soft on your subordinates, Commander. Of course, it is of importance to **you**.” Yon-Rogg mentally winced at his sharp tone but managed to keep a calm outer appearance. “We all know that you lost more than just a subordinate. But it has no military merit to know about that.”

Yon-Rogg felt his anger rise, but he would not give into it. Yes, of course, it was important for him. She was his. But even the general should see how important information was. And if Vers was not well, then she could make mistakes and that could help them apprehend her. And he did not want Ronan to detain her. He wanted to be the one to do this and make sure that the Supreme Intelligence could help her see reason again.

Att-Lass nodded thanks to him, expressing that he appreciated the Commander of his unit. He always had their backs.

“And besides, there isn’t much else to tell. I woke up next to my team members and the soldiers in front of the same airlock, we wanted to eject the blasted Skulls from. One by one Korath and Bron-Char also came to be. Some of the Skrulls taunted to evict us into space, but there was a little Skrull girl, a really creepy girl” he shuddered “that told them that, her father, had forbidden to harm us in any way as this would get them back into crosshairs with somebody called … I don’t know Car-Ell.”

“Another Kree traitor?!” the General asked flabbergasted. “How many more are there?”

Yon-Rogg froze. How could he have forgotten about this? Why hadn’t he thought about this earlier? He did have the means to bring Vers back. Perhaps even to make her come home voluntarily. He must have been too caught up in the moment.

“No. Car-Ell turned out to be Vers.” Att-lass continued shrugging his shoulders.

“So, the Skrulls gave her a new Kree name to mock us.” the General sniffed balling his fists ignoring Att-Lass. “Champion”.

Yon-Rogg gulped, took a deep sigh wondering if he should correct them and reluctantly revealed. “No, it is her true name.”

“I beg your pardon?” General Lan-Lar scoffed turning towards him. “Anything else that you might to divulge, Commander.”

“Nothing,” Yon-Rogg told him gritting his teeth. This had been a mistake. He should have kept his mouth shut. If the General made the connection of her name to her ancestry, then the Flerken would be out of the bag. “The rest is classified. If you want more information, then I suggest that you take it up with the Supreme Intelligence.”

Att-Lass jaw dropped his eyes pinging back and forth between the two. “So, **that’s** why she accused you of lying to her!” He connected the dots. “You kept her name, her real identity from her. Why? What for? What about her family?”

“Are you questioning your commander?” Lan-Lar asked sharply. That was against Star Force regulation. Unquestioning loyalty was requested in the Star Force.

“All you need to know is that they are under Kree protection. It is not upon me to question the Supreme Intelligence decisions.” Yon-Rogg told them briskly trying to end this part of the conversation before it could get out of hand.

“Clearly, our leader had a reason for withholding her name from her.” Even though speaking it out, it left a bitter aftertaste. He probably should shut up now as the reveal might trigger further interest. After all, the current tragedy could have been prevented in the first place if they had brought her mother and sister to Hala like he had suggested. With her family in safety, she probably would not have begun searching for her past. Perhaps she could have let go of it.

“Continue,” Yon-Rogg ordered Att-Lass who straightened.

“When she turned up, she just stood there in front of the cell looking at us. Korath assumed that she would gloat, but she never did. I do not know, she seemed so forlorn and cited some convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War from C-53 to our Skrull guards? Although, she also murmured something about her country not having signed it. Bron-Char tried to remind her of our friendship. Trying to get through to her, reach Vers and break through the Skrulls’s manipulation. But a female Skrull always appeared shortly after her. So, he was unsuccessful. I tried to remind her of our friendship as well. But she just warned us that our friendship was the only reason why we still drew breath.”

“And that interaction was interpreted by you that the old Vers was still insider her.” General shook his head. It seems that she has weakened you all.”

“We are not weak!” Attl-Lass jumped up hitting his fists on the metal table. “I’ve been part of several Star Force Teams, but Commander Rogg’s team was the only one with true camaraderie. That’s why we performed best.” He circled his hand. “Leaving one team member behind, because they couldn’t make it? Not in this team. Making sure that the others of the team were alright after taxing missions. Brom-Char always inquired about our health. Yes, it made us stronger. Jokes to lighten the sombre mood after a botched mission. Vers made sure to ease the tension. Min-Erva and Vers might not have been able to see eye to eye, but neither would have left the other behind. A Commander who cares about the well-being of each member of his team? Commander Yon-Rogg cared about every single one of us. That’s what made our team the best until the Skrulls got to Vers. I do not plan to give up on her now. Because if our roles were reversed, then she would do exactly the same. The good rapport in our team is what saved us from being ejected into the cold vacuum of space. If more Star Force teams were like ours, then there would be far better results. So, next time you want to insult our team, you should come up with something better.” his chest heaved staring at the General with blazing eyes.

Yon-Rogg was lost for words. Was that really Att-Lass? He had known that Vers had been close with Att-Lass and Bron-Char. Their harmless shenanigans had told him as much with Min-Erva and Korath as their usual targets, but he had never known how close their friendship had been. And that Att-Lass still held him in such high regard after his massive failure warmed his heart. He vowed to not let him down. It also warmed his heart that he wasn’t the only one who would not give up hope to bring Vers back.

“Sit down, Captain” General Lan-Lar ordered him, a vein on his side pulsating angrily. “Know your place.” 

“Oh, don’t worry. I do know my place. General.” Att-Lass bit back. “But you are openly calling for public execution of one of my fellow team members. And I will not stand for it. Most especially when that particular fallen team member is responsible for the survival of your son.”

* * *

For Bron-Char’s interrogation, he would have to wait for another day. General Lan-Lar had lost it after Attl-Lass behaviour. They assumed that he was under Skrull influence. Especially, when he could not remember being interrogated by them. A Star Force member, not being interrogated by General Talos? That was unthinkable. So, until they could prove that Att-Lass was not compromised he would remain under observation. But Yon-Rogg hoped for something else. Perhaps Vers did have some influence on the Skrulls? Perhaps they had tried to garner her trust and therefore not interrogated them. 

But Att-Lass’ interrogation had given him an idea of how to get his Vers back without any further casualties. Att-Lass believed in her. So, there was still hope.

“I have an idea how to get Vers back for the Kree.” Yon-Rogg muttered casting his gaze downward, not daring to look into the cold hard eyes of the Supreme Intelligence.”

“To you, you mean.” the SI remarked knowingly towering over him. “Your thoughts betray you Yon-Rogg. You are egocentric. You want your pet back. For yourself. Not for the Kree.” He gulped back tears. Yes, he knew that he was weak and selfish. But Vers could be an asset for his people.

“You are not to be trusted with her.” the Supreme Intelligence continued. “But not to worry. Ronan was tasked to bring the wayward weapon back to us. He is confident to achieve where you failed.”

“No!” Yon-Rogg ground out, cold shivers running through his being. Ronan would kill her. “But Vers is more valuable to our people alive than dead.”

“He said the same thing. It would seem that for once you and the Accuser are in agreement. All it took was one woman.” the Supreme Intelligence mocked and Yon-Rogg clenched his hands. Ronan did not want to kill her? That was a first. Unless he wanted to punish her worse than death. It would certainly be in his power to do so.

“Ronan was tasked to bring her back alive. Does that please you?” the Supreme Intelligence resumed and put his large hand onto Yon-Rogg’s cheek, who fought hard not to flinch. What could have changed the Supreme Intelligence’s mind? From a death sentence hanging over her head, to let the wretched accuser hunt her down.

“For public execution, was the order. But killing her would just…” he argued still holding his gaze downwards.

“No, not for public execution.” the SI interrupted him. “Not anymore. He requested that her blood to be exchanged with his very own.”

“No!” Yon-Rogg screamed out hoarsely, pleadingly looking up to his leader. Cold sweat running down his back. His heart clenched painfully. Vers was his! He wouldn’t let Ronan get his grubby blue hands on her. He had rescued her from C-53. He had rebuilt her from the ashes of her being. He had seen her potential first, long before any other Kree before him had even believed in her. He had risked everything for her. He had paid for the protective detail on Vers’ sister and mother from his own expenses. He had done that. Not Ronan, who had never shown any interest until she had kicked his ass! The thought of her being in his rival’s hands made his stomach recoil. There was no doubt in his mind what he would use her for. The Accuser saw her as a prize to be won, he did not love her. Yon-Rogg was not sure if the blue giant even knew what love was. 

“Vers is bound to me.” he ground out holding the Supreme Intelligence’s gaze. Yon-Rogg knew that he probably sounded like a petulant child, but there were no other women that he wanted.

“According to the ancient laws Vers is bound to me.” he repeated more forcefully this time. Ronan either didn’t know that she shared his blood, or he wanted to own her so badly, that he was willfully ignoring the ancient laws. But that would be a first. Ronan’s family used to be the guardians of the old Kree laws.

“I accepted the remnants of these barbaric laws long enough. They are holding the Kree back. It is time that you all let go of them. And besides, you never managed to control her.” the SI mocked. “You never wanted to regulate her. You were weak. The ancient laws were made by women and make all Kree men weak.”

Yon-Rogg dropped to his knees. He was weak, yes, he knew that already. If he had to beg on his knees so be it, but he would not give up on Vers.

“Please, your Intelligence.” he pleaded in desperation. “Vers had a controlling, abusive father and brother. Trying to restrain her by subduing her on Hala would only have made her push back harder. My approach was to put her at ease, to integrate her into our society. Where she, as a daughter of Hala, belongs to.

“A daughter of Hala is only of use to me as long as they can be controlled.” His ruler told him coolly. “But as I am merciful, I will listen to your suggestion. Speak now, Yon-Rogg or forever hold your peace.”

The last part was a strange phrase and almost sounded as if spoken in humour, but he had no time to ponder about it. He was given a chance. Yon-Rogg exhaled shortly. Yes. The Supreme Intelligence was indeed merciful. Now it was upon him to prove that he had the better approach to get her back.

“Thank you, your Intelligence.” he quickly expressed his gratitude. “We can spare the expense of hunting for Vers. With the right preparation, she could come to us willingly…”

“Continue.” The Supreme Intelligence told him, letting go of his face.

“Her mother and her sister have been under supervision since we first took Vers. We could contact the sleeper agents and bring the two to Hala. With them here, Vers wouldn’t take part in an attack knowing that it would hurt her family. It could allow us to lure her back home, subdue her and get rid of the Skrulls influence.”

“An excellent idea, Commander.” his leader told him calmly. “but we know that it was a bit more than just supervision. Especially, for the younger one.” He nodded hesitantly. There was no denying what he had done.

“Your suggestion would certainly, temporarily stop the weapon in her tracks to destroy us as she has promised. But it would not stop her completely to try. She is certainly predictable. But by bringing the two family members to Hala, we risk an end to our tedious peace negotiations with Xandar.”

He frowned. Why would Carol’s family be an interest to Xandar? For all, they knew they were Terrans. And yet perhaps the Xandarians knew more than they had let on. That corpsman Dey had recognized Carol during their joint mission on Sy’gul in Xandarian space.

“Why would Xandar be interested in Vers’ family?” he inquired.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment.


End file.
